Telephone signaling apparatus



(No Model.) s Sheets-Sheet 1'.

W. J. DUDLEY.

TELEPHONE SIGNALING APPARATUS. No. 278,322. PatentedMayZQ, 1883.

(No Model.) *3 ShetsSheet 3.

W. J.. DUDLEY.

TELEPHONE SIGNALING APPARATUS- Patented May 29, 1883.

a EUNITEDSV STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

WALTER J. DUDLEY, Oh BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TELEPHONE SIGNALING APPARATUS. o

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent.1\l'0. 278,322, dated May 29, 1883. Q Applicationfiled August 2.188%. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 7 1

Be it known that I, WALTER J. DUDLEY,0f Boston, county ot'Suft'olk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Telephone Signaling Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompany-ing drawings, is a specification.

' series, so that only one can be operated at any one moment. The said mechanisms areco'ntrolled by an electric impulse to set the signal in opei ation, so that by transmitting such impulses during the period at which the desired one of the said mechanisms is operative the signal thereof will be operated, all the others being unaffected, since it is not their periodor interval for operation.

The present invention consistsppartly, in novel mechanism for regulatingthe movement of all the saidmechanisms, so that theirperiodstof operation will always remain in'the proper relation to one another; also, in novel mechanism for transmitting the current by which the desiredone of the signals is to be set in operation; a1so,in the signal-controlling mechanism by which such an impulseis enabled to set one only of'theseries of signals in operation; also,in the combination,with the said signal'controlling mechanism, of a switch by which the telephones ot' the series are removed from the circuit at all the stations except the one where the communication is going on, and

secrecy is thus maintained.

At the central office is located a main regulating motor or clock, connected with a battery and the circuits on which the signaling apparatus is located, and provided with cir cuit-controlling mechanism, by which the current of the said battery is normallykept flowing in one direction over the line, except at certain moments when the battery is shortcircuited, these moments being shown as occurring once in each rotation of the secondhand arbor or once a minute. The corresponding arbors of' the signaling mechanisms or clocks, which are regulated to run a trifle faster than the central-office clock, are provided with a stopping electro-m;a-gnet, the armature of which, when attracted, engages a certain portion of the clock-work, (shown as the escapement-lever,) and thus stops the clock until the said armature is released by the diversion of the battery-current from the line by the main clock, as before mentioned, when the signaling-clocksare all released in unison with one another and with the main clock. The signaling-clocks carry cams, which, during definite portiousot' their rotation, open a circuit-closer which at other times closes a shunt for the entire apparatus, (exoept'in some instances the regulating-magnet just described.) The said shunt is composed partly of the armature of a polarized relay or switch, the coils of which are normally shunted, as just mentioned, but which are brought in circuit by the momentary opening of the circuit closer, caused by the rotation of the cam, as just-described. The opening of this circuit-closer merely throws the coils of the polarized switch into circuit, the remaining apparatus (telephone, signal-magnet, &c.) being shunted by the armature thereof; but if are verse current is sent over the line while the coils of the relay are thus in circuit, theposition of itsarmature will be changed, it then opening the shunt around the telephone and signal-magnet, and thus bringing them intocir-- the central office is adapted to send'the reversed current at the proper moment when the desired one of the polarized relays is in circuit. The telephone-hook is adapted to close a shunt around the signal-magnet when relieved of the weight of telephone, so that the bell will cease to ring as soon as the person called takes up his telephone. The telephonesupporting lever'is itself arranged to reverse the connections of the polarized'relay in the main circuit, so that when the telephone is taken off its hook the normal current employed for regulating the clocks will, when it passes through the said relay by the opening of its shunt, as before mentioned, change the position of the armature ot' the said relay to bring the telephone into circuit. By employing a relay or switch to bring the telephone and signal into circuit only a short interval of time has to be devoted to each station in,which the said switch is operated, after which the said signalremains in circuit after the interval devoted to the said apparatus for bringing its I signal into operation has elapsed.

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the essential parts of the regulating and a portion of the transmitting apparatus at the central office; Fig.2, a plan view of the portion of. the

.transmitting apparatus manipulated by the front view of the signaling apparatus at a station, the different electro-magnets and some of the circuit-wires being indicated in dotted lines.

Referring to Fig. 1, a represents an arbor of the main regulating-clock, preferably the one carrying the seconds-hand, which rotates once in a minute, the said arbor being in electrical contact, through the spring 2 and wire 3, with one pole of the battery B, while the other pole of the said battery is connected with a spring, 4, that rests on an insulating-drum, a on the arbor a, the said drum having at one point a metal stud, 5, connected with the said arbor and adapted to complete the circuit of the battery B between the springsfl and4 once in each rotation of the arbor a. The pendulumcruteh I) of the said clock is provided with a stud, b,which, at each oscillatiomlifts a spring, b from a contact-point, b and thus breaks the circuit of the battery B, as will be clearly understood from the drawings. The circuit of the said battery Bincludes the coils of electro-magnets c, as many as desired, the armature-levers c of which are provided with pawls' c", which, in the vibrationof the said armatures produced by the attraction of the said magnets 0, interrupted, as just described, bytheaction of the pendulum of the main clock, will engage the teeth of the ratchet d, mounted on I arbors e, producing a rotation of the said arbors in unison with the advance of the escapewheel of the main clock. The said ratchetsd' have one or two less teeth than the number of the vibrations of the pendulum required-for a full rotation of the arbor a, of the main clock, .so that they will gain usually about one-six-' tie'th upon thesaid arbor a in their rotation,

tare-levers d of electromagnets d included in the circuit of the battery B and springs 2 4, before described. The said armature-levers d ,when unattracted, (which is their normal condition, the circuit of the battery B being open for the greater part of the time,) will engage the stop projection d and arrest the ratchet at until the stud 5, connected with the arbor a, touches the spring 4, completing the circuit of the battery B, and magnetizes the magnets (P. so that their armatures are attracted away from the stop projection d causing the said ratchets to start in unison at a point determined by the position of the stud 5 connected with the arbor a. I

The arbors c carry the transmitting apparatus for the difierent circuits through the stations to be signaled, the apparatus of one of which is shown in Figs. 4 to 7, it containing a clock -work regulated to carry 'an arbor, at, substantially in unison with the main regulating-clock. unison with the transmitting-arbors e in a manner analogous to that by which the movement of the arbors e are kept in unison with that of the arbor athat is, the arbors m carry disks m provided with projections m, adapted to'control a circuit-closer, N, in a shunt for the regulating-magnet n, the circuit of which is also controlled by the arbors c at the central station. The armature-lever a,

against the lever l of" the escapement of the clock-work and hears it into an extreme position, locking the teeth of the scape-wheel Z, as shown in Fig. 4, and thus stopping the train. When the armature. is released by the demagnetization'of the magnet 12, caused by the arbor e, as hereinafter described, the balance will at once oscillate and the train start, a result which might not always ensue if the'balance were allowed to come to rest in an intermediate position.

It will be seen that in the station apparatus the clock-works are stopped when the armatures are attracted, and released when they are nnattracted,the reverse of the operation of the projections 01 d d, before described. The circuit of these regulating-magnets n is as follows: The main battery B Fig. 2, has its opposite poles connected by wires 12 and 13 with the springs 14.- 15 ot' the pole-reversing keyf. (See Fig. 3.) These springs are fixed at one end upon but insulated lrom the said key, and at their other ends may rest in electrical contact with the said key, or with stops 1617, they being so arranged that when either one of the said springs is in contact with its stop the other is in contact with the key, which is connected with the ground by wire 18.

The stop 16 is connected with the line L directly by wire 19, so that in the normal position of the key (shown in Fig. 3) the line L is connected with the spring 14 and by wire 12 with one polefor example, the positive oneof the battery B ,'while the other pole thereof is connected by wire 13,.spring 15, and keyf The said arbors m are kept in IIO c with the gro'nnd an d a positive current will,| pass bylwire 34 to the lever r, pivoted at 35,

then flow through the line L. By depressing the key the pole connected with the wire 12 will be connected by spring 14 and key f with the ground, while the other--that is, the negative polewill be connected through. wire 13 and spring 15 with the stop 17, which is adapted to be connected to line, as hereinafter described, to send a negative current through the line L. t y i A branch wire, 20, connects the wire 19 with a spring, 22, in contact with the transmittingarbor e, and a spring, 24, connectedby wire 26 i with the ground, rests in contact with insulatw ing-drum e on the arbor e, butis brought by the stud 25 once in each revolution of the said arbor into-electrical contact therewith, and.

. thus into connection with the spring 22, thereby grounding thewires 19 and 20 and positive pole of the battery B forming a shortcircuit therefor and diverting the current from the line, so that the armatures of the magnets a ,are retracted and release the escapement-levers l, permitting the arbors in to start in unison at apoint determined by the position of thestud in the insulating'drnm 6 It will be understood that the magnets a" are brought into circuit by the opening of the circuit-closer N just before the current is diverted therefrom,the difference in time between these operations being merely thevariation in running between the two arbors m one or more cam projections, m which, inthe rotation of the said arbor, act upon a spring or circuit-closer,0,to raise it from contact with its stop or contact-point 0'. i 1 y The projections m? of the apparatusat the difi'erent stations are dili'erently located relative to the stop-point m, so that the springs;

0 will be acted upon at ditferent moments in "the synchronous rotation of thesaid arbors m, and no two of the said springs will be raised at the same time. 1

The circuit of the main line L, after passing through the magnet 77/ or circuit-closer N, is continued by wire 31 to the stop 0, and thence, when the spring o is in contact therewith, by the wire 32 to the armature p of an electromagnet, 10, so arranged or polarized that when the normal current passes throughits coils the said armaturewill be placed in contact with a stop, pficonnectedby wire 33-with the main ,line L,leading to the next station. Thus in the normal condition ofthe parts 0 0 and p p beirigconnected, a direct circuitwill be formed from the magnetia' or circuit-closer N ito the nextbsta'tion, and thecoils of the magnetp and Tother apparatus shunted. v

The magnet 12 audits armature p constitute in the station will be a polarized switch, which will remain in what-i. ever. position it was placed by the lastattractive impulse of themagnetp. When the spring 0 is raised, breaking the connection between the wiresol 32, the current will be obliged to and provided with a hook to support the usual hand-telephone, T, the weight of which holds the said lever depressedin the positionshown in full lines, Fig. 4. The said lever is provided with springs WW, insulated therefrom at one end, and adapted to have their other ends in contact, one with thesaid key andthe full lines) and the sprin'go is raised,thenormal line-current will pass through the magnet p.

the stop p thus forming a direct circuit from the coils of the said magnet to the line L, leading to thenext station but if atthe moment when the spring ois raised the current through would be attracted away from the stop 19*, thus disconnecting it from the wire '33 and line L, leading to the next station. In this condition .ot'f affairs the current-will pass from the wire circuit key, s, to the coils of the telephonefll,

the. signal, (shown as an ordinary. vibrating bell, S,) tion. a

It will beseen that the magnet 19 can only be .afiected when thespring 0 isiraised, and that the telephone T and signal S canonly be brought in circuit when the said spring is sired to signal a station from the central office by the transmitting mechanism shown in Figs. 1,2,3, in the following manner:

a series of plates,g marked with the numbers 12 3 4 5, which are duplicated, so that the bearing a given number in one revolution. These plates are placed in such relative posi- 1 while the projections m are raising the spring 0 at stationl, and over the plate 2 while the said projections are raising the springo in the apparatus at station 2, and so on, so that an impulse sent while the spring gis passing over any one of; the said plates will pass through and affect the magnet 19' at the station bearin g other with a stop, r connected by wire 36 with the' armature p, and when the said arn1a+ telephone-be on its lever (the position shown in and thence by wire 41, through the. magnet of.

The arboreis provided with acontact-sprin g, g, in electrical connection therewith, and caused by the rotary movement thereof topas's over tion to the stud 25, governing the'r'egulatingmagnets 'n at the different stations, that the spring 9 willbe passing over: the plate marked. I

and will merely attract the armature 19 against the: magnet p should be reversed, its armature I 36 bythe wire 40, inclndingan ordinary break- Q to the line L, leading to the'next sta- IIO raised, and the current through the magnet p j reversed, which is accomplished when it is despring makes two connections with a plate I the same number, and at no other station. The

said plates 1 2 3 4 5 are connected by wires 51 52 53 54 55 with a series of plates, g, bearing the same numbers on the keyboard of the transmitting device shown in Fig. 2, which is also provided with a metallic finger or pointer, h, which can be placed by the operator in contact with any desired one of the said plates. The said pointer his connected with the stop 17 of the pole changing key fby wire 56, so

that when the said key is depressed, connecting the positive pole of the battery B with the ground, as before described, the negative pole.

will be connected through the wire 13, spring 15, stop 17, and wire 56 with the pointer 71,, and whichever one of the plates 9 it may be rest- -ing on, and thence by one of the wires 5l'to 55, with the corresponding plate 9 near the arbore, and consequently when the spring 9, in the rotation of the said arbor, touches the said plate the circuit will be continued to the, said spring and arbor, and-thence by spring 22 and wire to the line L, thus sending a negative impulse over the line, which,

as before mentioned, will affect the magnet p of that station only which has the same number as the plate touched by the pointer h. The current thus transmitted, being of opposite polarity to the normal currentsent when the key 30 f is not depressed, will move the armature p at the station in question out of contact with its stopjfi, thus causing the current to traverse the circuit consisting of the wire 40, telephone T, wire 41, and magnet of the signal S, causing the said signal to ring in the station where the armaturep has been thus moved.

A signal orv tap bell, S, (see Fig. 2,) is included in. the circuit of the battery 1? at the central office, and when the said circuit is thus closed by the spring 9 the said bell will sound,

after which the operator, who has kept the key depressed until the spring 9 closed the circuit, will release the said key, permitting the normal current to again flow and operate .with the line L, leading .to the next station when the telephone is removed, and thus shuntingthe signal S, so that it will cease to sound as soon as the person called takes up the'telephone.

In order to signal the central office from the subscribers station the telephone at the said station must be removed from itshook, thus reversing the connection of the magnet 19' in the main line, so that as soon as it is brought in circuit by the raising of the springo in the rotation of the disk 111?, its armature p will be moved by the normal current passing through it in the direction opposite its usual direction, this movement of the armature bringing the key 8 and telephone T in circuit, as before described, but the signal S being shuntedby the contact of the points 42 43.- The operator, by

manipulating the key s, will afiect the signal S at the central otfice.

When two subscribers on the'same or different lines are placed in communication the battery B willbe removed from thesaid lines,and the armatures patall theother stations on the said lines will serve as secrecy-switches, as it is obvious that they cannot be moved to bring the telephone in circuit in the absence of the battery-current. Whenthe communication is ended and the telephones are again hung up, and the normal battery-current thrown on the line, it will, the moment the spring 0 is again raised, pass through the magnetp and 'restore its armature to the normal condition, shunting the telephone and signal.

In the modification shown in Figs. 5, 6 a single magnenp n, is employed both for regulating the clock-work and operating theswitchlever or armature p. A single circuit-closer, 0, is needed to shunt the magnet both for signaling and regulating the clocks, and an additional point, m,-is employed on the camdtskm to raise the said spring and bring the magnet in circuit at the time for arresting the clock.

The neutral armature upon the armature-lever it operates for regulating, and is shown in this instance as engaging the stop-point m on the disk m to stop the clock. lever r in this instance has a single spring, 9, which is connected by wire 34'with the line L entering the station, and the said lever itself is connected by wire 37 with one electrode of magnetp a, while the stopr is connected by wire 38 with the other electrode of the said magnet. The said magnet is connected at a point between its twocoils (see Fig.6) by wire 60, with its armature 10, which is shown as rocking on a pivot between the said poles. By this arrangement, when the telephone is on its hook, as shown in Fig. 5, and the armature 1) in contact with its stop 19*, when the spring 0 is raised by one of the projections m the current entering will pass by'wire 34, spring r, stop a, wire 38, through the coil of the magnet 10 n, and thence by wire'60, armature 1), stop 1;, and wire 33 to the line L, leading to the next station. The normal or positive current, passing in this way through the coil 70, will tend to hold the armature go against the stop 19 vbut the reverse current,-if transmitted from the The telephone central office, as before described, willremove the armature from the stop, causingtthe circuit to be continued from wire 60 by wire 40' and key 5 through the telephone T, wire 41, and signal S, as beforedescribed. When,ho wever, the telephone. is removed, as shown in Fig. '6, the current will pass from wire 34 through spring 1", lever r, and wire 37, through the coil 71 of the magnet n p, and thence by wire 60, armature p, stop 1 and wire 33,as before, and the said coil 71is so woundthatthe normal current passing through it in this manner will move the armature 01' away from its stop 19 thus bringing the keys and telephone T in circuit, as before, when the subscribermay call the centraloffice by manipulating the said key. The wire is also connected by wire 6] Fig. 5, with a stop, 13, fora spring, 25, connected. by wire '62 with the wire 40 and .line L, leading to the next station, the said spring being controlled by a second cam, u, on the arbor m, by which it is kept raised except when the arbor is stopped in the act of regulatingit, when the said spring closes the circuit from the wire 60 to line L, thus preventing interference from the key 8 with the operation of regulating.

A local battery, ,B, may be employed in con: nection with the key f, as shown, for the pur-' pose of signaling the central office when a communication is ended,the main battery being A blank space, 3 is preferably left between the plates 9 touched by the springs g of the transmitting apparatus, as shown in Fig. 1, to insure non-interference with the operation of regulating the clocks, which takes place just before the spring g passes off from the said blank space. An insulating space, 3 is also left for the pointer h when not in use, as shown in Fig. 2. It is obvious that the different a bors e and their operating and controlli g' magnets c 61 may be omitted, the springs'd and co-operating devices being mounted directly on the arbor a, which may beextended a sufficient lengthto accommodate any desired number of independent transmitting devices, such as shown at the arbor e. v

- I claim- 1. In atelephone signal apparatus, the combination, with a main-line circuit, of an electro-magnet and its armature, constituting a switch controlling a shunt for a signal-magnet, and a shunt for the said switch eleotro-magnet and circuit-closer therein, controlled by a uniformly-moving motor or clock-work arranged, as described,to open the said shunt only during a definite portion of its movement, whereby the said switch-magnet can be affected only at definite moments to control the shunt for the signal-magnet, substantially as described. r

2. .The combination of an arbor adapted to have a uniform movement with an electromagnet and its armature to arrest the said arher, and thereafterto release it in unison with others of a series in the same circuit, and with an electro-magnet and its armature, constituting a switch, and communicating and signaling apparatus, and a shunt therefor controlled by the said switch, and a shunt for the said switch-magnet, controlled by the said arbor, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with a telephone and an electric magnet and its armature controlling a shunt therefor, of the telephone-supporting lever, contact springs thereon, and contactstops therefor connectedwith the electrodes of the said magnet and with the line entering and leaving the station, as described, whereby the connections of the said magnet in the line are a reversed by the movement of the lever caused by the removal or restoration of the weight of the telephone, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. A clock work having a vibrating governor and circuit closer operated thereby, combined' with a ratchet having a stopping -projection, an electro magnet in circuit with the said circuit-closer, and provided with an armature and pawl co-operating with the said ratchet, a circuit-closer operated by an arbor of the saidcl'ock-work, and an electro-magnet in circuit therewith having an armature-lever movable into and from a position to engage the said ratchet-stoppin g projection, the said ratchet having less teeth than the number of times the clock-governor closesthe circuit controlled by it between two successiye operations of the circuit-closer operated by the clockarbor, whereby the said ratchet is caused to rotate substantially in unison with the clockarbor, and is brought in exact unison therewith once in each complete rotation, substantially as described. a 5. i In an individual signal apparatus, aseries of station apparatus each containing a signalcontrolling arbor adaptedtorotate in unison with the others, and apolarized switch controlled thereby, combined with a transmitting: arbor rotated in unison with said signal-controlling arbors, a circuit-closer carried thereby, and a pole-changing key and transmitting device under control of the operator, whereby a battery may have one of its poles connected to the line by the said circuit-closer during any desired portion of its revolution, substantially asand for the purpose described.

6. In a telephone signal apparatus, a series of synchronously-moving "devices and. regulatin g electro-magnets therefor, combined with circuit-breaking keys, shuntcircuits for said keys, and controlling devices for said shuntcircuits, operated by the said synchronouslymoving devices and arranged as described, whereby the said keys are cut out of circuit while the controlling-magnets are operating to regulate the said devices, substantially, as described. a

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing. witnesses.

WALTER J. DUDLEY. 

